We learn the purpose of the Neolutionists and the implants as Felix and the Hendrixes infiltrate a Neolutionist-connected clinic, Sarah and Dizzy track down MK, Rachel and Charlotte are exposed, and Ferdinand finds himself on the hot seat.

Premises

Dizzy steps up as an ally, two clones make exits, a discovery casts suspicion on Felix’s sister, and we learn the purpose of the implants and the likely endgame for the Neolutionists.

High Points

The episode features strong direction, including the effective cross-cutting as two different groups of characters learn MK’s back-story and motives, and the transition from the hilarious “Funiculì, Funiculà” scene to the gruesome implant extraction.

Low Point

Dizzy’s uncovering of the password—belonging to someone who is both a computer expert and paranoic—can be hand-waved, but it reeks of Hollywood Magic Hacking.

The Scores:

Originality: 2/6 Even the most conventional episodes of Orphan Black feature innovation, but this stands as one of the most conventional episodes thus far.

Effects: 6/6 The squickiness continues. I don’t specifically know how they’ve created the implant prop (presumably an artificial construction), but it looks entirely believable.

Interesting challenge for interesting characters: rank the clones based on degrees of stability. Sarah’s actually doing reasonably well, given the circumstances, as is Cosima. Rachel, Helena, and Alison, less so. MK’s certainly successful, but not “well” (again, she faces circumstances that would unbalance a lot of people), and it is fair to say that Beth went over a very particular metaphoric ledge before going over the literal one.

The thing about Alison is she was likely a bit nuts before she even knew about the other clones, and has been working way too hard to appear normal all her life. Falling into this insane situation just worked for her.